Evidence for seafloor spreading in the Laxmi Basin, northeastern Arabian Sea

Abstract

Marine magnetic anomaly data from the Laxmi Basin for the first time reveal the presence of fairly correlatable NNW-trending magnetic lineations. These magnetic lineations are symmetric about a central negative magnetic anomaly and the axis of symmetry coincides with a characteristic short-wavelength free-air gravity low. The anomalies are interpreted as representing a two-limbed seafloor spreading sequence which can be equated to the A28-A33 interval of the geomagnetic polarity reversal timescale. These results suggest that the Laxmi Basin is underlain by an oceanic crust. Evidence of seafloor spreading in this basin possibly implies a pre-A27 spreading episode in the evolutionary history of the Arabian Sea. © 1994.